The uses of structural barriers for a variety of applications in environmental remediation are generally well described. Several types of Environmental Remediation Barriers (ERBs) are used in earth and hydraulic engineering, such exemplary structures including fiber rolls, mats, blankets, and berms. Originally, major applications of ERBs included erosion and sedimentation control, revegetation, and revetment. More recently, the potential for such structures to serve additionally in the capacity of removal of natural and manmade pollutants from residential, industrial, and agricultural sources, and remediation of eutrification has been described.
As the name of one type of ERB, fiber roll, suggests, ERBs packed into a covering, such as a netted material, may be filled with fibers; typically a single natural fiber such as abaca, hemp, jute, flax, sisal, coir, or straw materials. For a major application of fiber-filled ERBs in erosion and sediment control, the purpose of the fiber filling is primarily structural. In that regard, though the natural fibers described are capable of absorbing water, one necessary attribute of the fiber filler has been to provide an effective porosity once packed that allows for the ready passage of water, while promoting the retention of mud, sediment, gravel, and the like. Other desirable attributes of natural fibers used in ERBs include ready availability in high volume and low cost, requirement to be germ, insect and weed free, free of chemical pollutants, ability to degrade after use; thereby obviating creation of harmful waste, and ease of processing into targeted devices.
Materials in addition to natural fibers have been suggested as supplemental constituents in ERBs. Particularly, vegetative matter, as well as nutrients and fertilizers for revegetation and revetment have been described. Materials that have been suggested include sawdust, wood chips, bark, compost, flocculants, water absorbents, and pesticides. A major objective in the field has been to establish environmental remediation practices that are consistent with good practices for environmental protection in general. In that regard, the reuse of natural materials, such as saw dust, wood chips, bark, and compost, that would otherwise go to waste has been a motive for creating fillings for ERBs.
Especially in consideration of the use of ERBs in functions where the filling has a requirement that is more than structural; moreover where the filling must perform additional multiple functions, such as clarification of runoff water and removal of pollutants, the targeted and judicious selection of materials tailored for such multifunctional use throughout the lifetime of the ERBs still remains a challenge. Accordingly, a need exists for more effective compositions of materials that are multifunctional for a variety of environmental remediation needs, and for a range of ERBs utilizing such compositions and their use.